Assessing the Relationship between Verbal and Nonverbal Cognitive Abilities Using Resting-State EEG Functional Connectivity

Abstract

The present study investigates the relationship between individual differences in verbal and non-verbal cognitive abilities and resting-state EEG network characteristics. We used a network neuroscience approach to analyze both large-scale topological characteristics of the whole brain as well as local brain network characteristics. The characteristic path length, modularity, and cluster coefficient for different EEG frequency bands (alpha, high and low; beta1 and beta2, and theta) were calculated to estimate large-scale topological integration and segregation properties of the brain networks. Betweenness centrality, nodal clustering coefficient, and local connectivity strength were calculated as local network characteristics. We showed that global network integration measures in the alpha band were positively correlated with non-verbal intelligence, especially with the more difficult part of the test (Raven’s total scores and E series), and the ability to operate with verbal information (the “Conclusions” verbal subtest). At the same time, individual differences in non-verbal intelligence (Raven’s total score and C series), and vocabulary subtest of the verbal intelligence tests, were negatively correlated with the network segregation measures. Our results show that resting-state EEG functional connectivity can reveal the functional architecture associated with an individual difference in cognitive performance.

The role of inflammatory system genes in individual differences in nonverbal intelligence

“…The level of nonverbal intelligence was measured using a black-and-white version of the Raven Progressive Matrices (Raven, 2000), which represents the essential and widely used diagnostic instrument for the assessment of examined cognitive construct and is characterized by high validity and reproducibility (Feklicheva et al, 2021). The abovementioned approach includes a representation of figures, which are related to each other by certain dependence.…”

“…In turn, verbal intelligence stands for language skills, receptive and expressive speech, vocabulary, and verbal abstract reasoning (Dawson, 2013). The differences in the brain functional architecture are related to the use of verbal and nonverbal skills (Feklicheva et al, 2021).…”